Half Year Milestones

Yesterday at Dinosaur Park

Collin is officially 3-and-a-half today, even though he has been telling everyone, including random people at stores, parks, etc., that he is at least six months older than three since January. I suppose I've been fooled into thinking he is much older than three too, especially when I caught him doing a word find last week and getting frustrated that he couldn't find "pap-er" (he said it like 'flapper'). "Mommy, I can't find paper!" Confused, I say from the kitchen, "What is pap-er?" He replied, "Here, in this activity book." I go over and see he is pointing to the word, "paper," and then see some attempts at circling other words from the list in the puzzle. "Oh, you mean the word paper!" Collin assures me, "No, Mommy, it's pAAHp-er." Instead of arguing, I say, "Right, paper. Let's look...oh, here it is." Then I made the mistake of circling it for him, and I heard about five straight minutes of whining and crying about how he wanted to find it and circle it, and now that I did it in crayon, he couldn't erase my marks. Really?? Last I checked you were three, not five or six. Shouldn't you be coloring outside the lines or singing ABCs? No, not Collin. He is always trying read by sounding out the letters, and he is successful as long as there isn't some dumb English language rule preventing him from getting it right. Another example of Collin's big boy status happened this morning. He proved that he was up for the challenges that come with getting older by dressing himself from head to toe with no complaints or commentary. I just picked out his clothes (t-shirt, jeans with a snap and zipper, socks, underwear), put them on the stair landing in a folded pile, and told him to go get dressed...and he did. Perfectly. He even switched out the socks for a different pair. It was wonderful! And Olivia put on her own shoes this morning as well (minus threading the Velcro straps). What a time saver! I'm really grateful to have such independent kiddos, at least in this scenario. :)

Practicing going down the stairs solo

Olivia had her 18-month checkup today (she turned 1-and-a-half a couple of weeks ago). Her growth chart remains the same (75th percentile for weight at almost 26 pounds, 90th percentile for height at 34 inches, and 90th percentile for her big head). She cried as soon as we entered the room when she saw the infamous white paper-covered table and instantly remembered what that means ("ouch, boo-boo"). The nurse left and the pedi came in for the exam, which calmed her down (she likes her doctor), but when the nurse came back to do the you-know-what, it was all tears again...until the lollipop came out. Then "pee-POPPPP!!!" It was a good visit -- she is doing well across the physical and intellectual boards for her age. She walks up and down stairs by herself holding on to a railing, and she not only understands everything you say but also attempts to repeat every word back to you. It helps having big brother and teacher, "Eye-in," to emulate.

The one disconcerting take-away from Livi's appointment was a retest on hemoglobin coming back on the low side again. She got a 10.8 a few months back (it's supposed to be 11-13) but then a 9-point-something today. Low hemoglobin means low red blood cell count, or anemia. It can be caused by several factors from nutritional deficits to heredity. So now I have to oh-so-fun job of taking her for a CBC blood draw next week to find out the cause of the low count. Booo.

Here are some fun shots from the park yesterday!